Ship dismantling is not a new phenomenon. Once a vessel is no longer operational, it needs to be dismantled. This has been highly lucrative for some countries, as almost all of the metal used to build a vessel can be re-used once the ship becomes redundant.

The top five ship breaking countries are currently India, Bangladesh, China, Turkey and Pakistan. Other countries have found it difficult to maintain ship dismantling facilities due to the danger involved in the work and the expense of correct health and safety procedures. It has been argued that in countries such as Bangladesh and India control over workers rights and health and safety is not as prominent, allowing ship breaking companies to pay workers little and make increased profits.

Media interest on the dangers faced by workers in these countries has increased greatly over recent years. It has also not gone unnoticed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). This led the IMO to implement changes to the shipping industry that would benefit the workers of ship dismantling yards.

The IMO recognised that ship dismantling should not be removed, as since most of a ship’s materials can be reused, this is a good form of recycling. Therefore they needed to focus on the current dangers and make the thought of becoming a more environmentally friendly ship recycling yard more appealing to the owners of the yards and ships. One of the most influential moves involved in this was the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships 2009. The main aim of this was to lessen the dangers of ship dismantling. A key aspect of this convention is the Inventory of Hazardous Materials, (also known as a Green Passport) which all ships will be required to possess once the convention comes into force.

Ships have, for a long time, been built containing many of what we now know to be hazardous materials, such as Asbestos, PCBS, and TBTs. As the dangers of these have come to light, they are no longer used in construction, however many ships still in use will contain the hazards which if disturbed could be deadly. The removal of these from ships would make the exposure to workers at dismantling yards greatly reduced.

The inventory will be required for all commercial ships from their birth, and will have to be maintained throughout the ships life as it gains new additions that may contain hazards. It will also be required prior to recycling, with all ship recycling yards not allowing a ship to come into the yard unless it contains an up to date inventory.

This has also led to the formation of the International Ship Recycling Association. The association was founded on the 22nd October 2007, at the Hague in the Netherlands. The founding fathers of the association were Tom Peter Blankestijn of Maersk Management and Bernard Veldhoven, a Dutch Environmental Lawyer. To be a member of the association is to accept a strict level of certification requirements at your ship yard and to reach this I.S.R.A standard within two years. The association includes member ship yards from Turkey, China, USA and the Netherlands.

All of these movements from the shipping industry are positive steps towards the regeneration of ship recycling yards. The more awareness that is created from the media interest in these yards is also a encouraging movement to ensure the health and safety at yards will be increased.